


Support, the Murdock way

by fuzipenguin



Category: The A-Team (2010)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-10 04:50:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11120259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuzipenguin/pseuds/fuzipenguin
Summary: Face makes several observations in the days after the end of the movie





	Support, the Murdock way

                At first, Face thinks Murdock is just being Murdock. He’s always been tactile, but he’s especially clingy in times of stress. And it’s certainly been a stressful past few days on the run from the Army. It doesn’t help that Murdock still goes a little cross-eyed if he stands up too fast. So it’s not unexpected to see Murdock leaning in more often to Face and B.A. Murdock’s even been doing it to Hannibal.

                The odd thing is, Hannibal is leaning back.

                Hannibal’s always been verbally supportive of Murdock, but the two of them have never had the physical closeness Murdock has with Face, or even B.A. Oh, Hannibal will allow brief hugs and nudges, he’ll even throw an arm around Murdock and or ruffle the pilot’s hair. But these moments of contact have been generally very short.

                Now, Hannibal lets Murdock press up against him in the booth of the diner until a meal is finished. Whenever they’re watching television, Murdock plops himself on the floor to the side of Hannibal’s feet and rests his head on Hannibal’s thigh. The last time he did that, Hannibal’s hand had lingered in Murdock’s hair for the entirety of a twenty minute cartoon. And Face is pretty sure Hannibal hadn’t even realized he was doing it.

                That evening, just before bed, Face studies Hannibal out of the corner of his eye. The man is going about his nightly routine with no deviations, but he’s doing it mechanically as if his mind is somewhere else. His shoulders are rounded forward, and the lines around the corners of his mouth and eyes are deep. It makes him look old.  

                Face has to look away for a moment. This is the Boss. There are a lot of years separating Hannibal and each member of the team, but Face has never once thought of Hannibal as old before now. It’s sobering.

                When he looks back, Hannibal’s sitting on the edge of the furthest bed, television turned down low. He’s flipping through the channels, probably surfing for news of the team. Murdock slithers onto the bed behind Hannibal and rests his cheek against the point of Hannibal’s shoulder.

                “Any good cartoons on, Bossman?” Murdock asks softly, gradually letting himself sway forward until his front is plastered against the other man’s side.

                Hannibal very subtly leans back into the point of contact, and Murdock’s behavior for the past few days suddenly clicks. As if reading his mind, Murdock’s eyes flick upwards to meet Face’s. His big, brown eyes are sad but determined. They’re also asking Face a question.

                It’s an easy answer to give.

                “Yeah, Hannibal. Or maybe Braveheart. I think I saw that as you passed by Channel 24,” Face suggests, going over and throwing himself down on Hannibal’s other side. He ends up sprawled across the end of the bed, supporting himself on his elbows, thigh pressing lightly against Hannibal’s. Face can feel Hannibal’s startled glance as he is suddenly hemmed in by two of his teammates but Face nonchalantly keeps his gaze on the TV.

                “Oooh! Braveheart! Please, Hannibal, pleeeeeaaaase!” Murdock begs, squirming excitedly yet still managing to keep contact with Hannibal.  

                BA groans from his supine position on the other queen-sized bed. Face thinks he has been lightly dozing for the past hour; he’s been doing most of the driving and Face knows that can get exhausting. “That fool’s gonna be reenacting fight scenes for days, Hannibal,” he warns.

                Hannibal smiles down at Murdock, whose lips are spread in the widest smile any of them have seen since the LA docks. “It’ll be worth it.”        

                With a loud whoop of excitement, Murdock begins tugging on Hannibal’s arm pulling him up the bed. “Come on, Colonel, let’s get comfy!”

                Hannibal bemusedly lets himself be manhandled until he is reclining at the head of the bed on a mound of pillows. Face is handed the remote in the process and he finds the appropriate channel, setting the volume down even lower in deference to BA. When he turns back around to find his own spot he almost laughs at the look on Hannibal’s face.

                Mudock is settling in against Hannibal’s side like he was meant to be there. He’s already got a leg flung over Hannibal’s knees and now he’s snuggling close with his head on Hannibal’s chest. It only takes a beat for Hannibal to gather himself from the surprise of the unexpected cuddling; he shifts a bit and then wraps an arm around Murdock’s shoulders, pulling him even closer.

                If Murdock had been a cat, he’d be purring, Face decides, watching the pilot’s eyes slip closed contentedly. Hannibal looks up from gazing fondly at the top of Murdock’s head to stare at Face, a question in his eyes. Face shrugs with that ‘what can you do, it’s Murdock’ expression that they’ve all worn multiple times in the past. But secretly, he’s happy to see Hannibal’s shoulders relax for the first time in days.

                It doesn’t even take any prompting from Murdock. The next thing Face knows, he’s settling onto the open bed next to Hannibal. He lifts Hannibal’s arm up so that he can slot in against Hannibal’s side. The other man’s hand automatically curls around Face’s outer arm as he rests his head on Hannibal’s shoulder.

                “You make a pretty good pillow, Boss,” Face murmurs, glancing over at Murdock to see him looking back.

                “Doesn’t he though?” Murdock says, brown eyes glinting in triumph from beneath half lowered lids.

                It takes another minute or so for Hannibal to relax completely under the onslaught of forced cuddling. But he eventually does, gradually going limp beneath them.

                It’s surprisingly comfortable, here against Hannibal’s side. Face can feel himself start to slip towards sleep when the hand on his arm squeezes lightly once. He feels a weight settle in against the top of his head and when he cracks his eyes open he sees Murdock looking exceptionally pleased with himself.

                “Thank you, boys,” Hannibal murmurs into Face’s hair, so quietly he has to wonder if the words were a figment of his imagination.

                But they must not be because Murdock just nuzzles closer and smiles softly, whispering, ‘Any time, boss.’

 

~ End 


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